Most successful career holders would agree that having confidence in the workplace is imperative for career growth. People associate confidence as a trait that’s highly valuable, as it should be. A recent study concluded a direct link between high levels of confidence and career success. Confidence in yourself means you have unwavering trust in your abilities, which enable you to go after opportunities to further your professional development.
In this article, we will be expanding on what it means to have self-confidence in the workplace, how it can accelerate your career growth and ways in which to garner confidence in yourself and your abilities.
What is career confidence?
The Oxford Dictionary defines self-confidence as “confidence in yourself and your abilities”. By having self-confidence, you are certain about both your knowledge and skill-set and you are able to convey that through your actions in your workplace. By having career confidence, you are driven to push yourself in your profession.
By having greater confidence, you are more willing to take smarter risks and move outside your comfort zone.
Having career confidence means little self-doubt and no room for negative thoughts about yourself or your professional abilities. By having greater confidence, you are more willing to take smarter risks and move outside your comfort zone. Let’s go through some points around confidence in the workplace below.
Your comfort level in work environments
It’s very easy to spot someone who feels uncomfortable. This is the same when it comes to working environments. Whilst it’s normal to be reserved in the workplace, being uncomfortable means you’re likely not to speak up, or to chat with your colleagues. Having self-confidence means you carry yourself with a sense of authority. You’ll have the ability to have open discussions around the water cooler, speak up during meetings and address issues when you need to.
Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
Knowing what you’re good at and what could use improvement is a very underutilized form of introspection. By consciously identifying your strengths and weaknesses, you’re able to identify areas for improvement in order to continue building your career growth momentum.
Your inner monologue
The way you talk to yourself matters. Negative self-talk has no room in a confident mindset. It’s so important to combat negative and intrusive thoughts – even the most confident people have these thoughts, but they don’t let them ruin their day. Imposter syndrome is real, and it’s important you never let it win! By having an inner monologue that is more supportive, understanding and encouraging, your mood, abilities and actions propel you into career success.
Why is self-confidence important for career growth?
As mentioned above, self-confidence is important for career growth as it allows you to be free of self-doubt. By having confidence in your abilities you are free from negative and intrusive self-inhibiting thoughts and more likely to go after greater opportunities or challenging projects to further your career.
Confidence influences how we think, act and use our voice.
Leaders and executives have a presence about them. That’s confidence. In their abilities and in the business they’re growing. This presence is confidence, it influences how they think, act and use their voice. Let’s delve a little deeper into some of the advantages of having confidence in the workplace.
Increased productivity
You’ll likely be interested in engaging in activities that are more challenging. Constantly pushing the boundaries of your current career comfort zone encourages you to grow, achieve new goals. This type of attitude and actions will be noticed, employers will learn not only to trust you but know that you’ll be good at motivating those around you too.
Healthy assertiveness
When you have self-confidence in your job, you are more likely to be assertive when necessary. This is something many people struggle with for the fear of being shot down or losing your job. Knowing when to speak up, and how to do so, is an invaluable trait that is often respected by colleagues and employers.
Communicate effectively
Another benefit of being confident is that you speak clearly and concisely. Professionals who are confident communicators are able to communicate what they want and need from coworkers, clients and management efficiently. Communication is one of the most important aspects of career advancement.
Create a healthy work/life balance
More often than not, when someone is not confident, they overcompensate. This can lead to immersing yourself into work and work only, leading to you neglecting yourself and working long hours constantly. Knowing when to stop is important, and it comes with trusting in what you’ve done and what can be done the following day. The last thing you want is burnout!
How to build self-confidence for your career
Whether you’re feeling a lack of confidence in your current position, or preparing to enter the working world, there are a variety of strategies you can use to increase your confidence for career success. Self-improvement or professional development will help you to learn new skills or to further build on the ones you currently have. Below, we go through just a few ways you can accelerate your self-confidence for career growth.
Create career confidence through education
Whether you’re currently in a senior position or an entry-level position, you should always continue to grow and advance your professional goals! Education allows you to do just that. Education allows you to stay competitive, enhance your skills and continue advancing your career.
